<p><a href="https://peterattiamd.com/isaackohane/?utm_source=podcast-feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=240715-pod-isaackohane&utm_content=240715-pod-isaackohane-podfeed"> View the Show Notes Page for This Episode</a></p> <p><a href="https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/?utm_source=podcast-feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=240715-pod-isaackohane&utm_content=240715-pod-isaackohane-podfeed"> Become a Member to Receive Exclusive Content</a></p> <p><a href="https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/?utm_source=podcast-feed&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=240715-pod-isaackohane&utm_content=240715-pod-isaackohane-podfeed"> Sign Up to Receive Peter's Weekly Newsletter</a></p> <p>Isaac "Zak" Kohane, a pioneering physician-scientist and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, has authored numerous papers and influential books on artificial intelligence (AI), including The AI Revolution in Medicine: GPT-4 and Beyond. In this episode, Zak explores the evolution of AI, from its early iterations to the current third generation, illuminating how it is transforming medicine today and unlocking astonishing possibilities for the future. He shares insights from his unconventional journey and early interactions with GPT-4, highlighting significant AI advancements in image-based medical specialties, early disease diagnosis, and the potential for autonomous robotic surgery. He also delves into the ethical concerns and regulatory challenges of AI, its potential to augment clinicians, and the broader implications of AI achieving human-like creativity and expertise.</p> <p><strong>We discuss:</strong></p> <ul type="disc"> <li>Zak's unconventional journey to becoming a pioneering physician-scientist, and his early interactions with GPT-4 [2:15];</li> <li>The evolution of AI from the earliest versions to today's neural networks, and the shifting definitions of intelligence over time [8:00];</li> <li>How vast data sets, advanced neural networks, and powerful GPU technology have driven AI from its early limitations to achieving remarkable successes in medicine and other fields [19:00];</li> <li>An AI breakthrough in medicine: the ability to accurately recognize retinopathy [29:00];</li> <li>Third generation AI: how improvements in natural language processing significantly advanced AI capabilities [32:00];</li> <li>AI concerns and regulation: misuse by individuals, military applications, displacement of jobs, and potential existential concerns [37:30];</li> <li>How AI is enhancing image-based medical specialties like radiology [49:15];</li> <li>The use of AI by patients and doctors [55:45];</li> <li>The potential for AI to augment clinicians and address physician shortages [1:02:45];</li> <li>The potential for AI to revolutionize early diagnosis and prediction of diseases: Alzheimer's disease, CVD, autism, and more [1:08:00];</li> <li>The future of AI in healthcare: integration of patient data, improved diagnostics, and the challenges of data accessibility and regulatory compliance [1:17:00];</li> <li>The future of autonomous robotic surgery [1:25:00];</li> <li>AI and the future of mental health care [1:31:30];</li> <li>How AI may transform and disrupt the medical industry: new business models and potential resistance from established medical institutions [1:34:45];</li> <li>Potential positive and negative impacts of AI outside of medicine over the next decade [1:38:30];</li> <li>The implications of AI achieving a level of creativity and expertise comparable to exceptional human talents [1:42:00];</li> <li>Digital immortality and legacy: the potential to emulate an individual's personality and responses and the ethical questions surrounding it [1:45:45];</li> <li>Parting thoughts [1:50:15]; and</li> <li>More.</li> </ul> <p>Connect With Peter on <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterAttiaMD">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/peterattiamd/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/peterattiamd/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8kGsMa0LygSX9nkBcBH1Sg">YouTube</a></p>
Actionable Insights
1. Leverage HIPAA-Compliant AI for Admin
Physicians should use HIPAA-compliant AI platforms (e.g., Microsoft’s Azure Cloud GPT) to automate administrative tasks like writing prior authorization letters. This saves significant time and improves efficiency in healthcare administration.
2. Use AI for Diagnostic Support
Clinicians should adopt a ‘GPT-4 reflex’ to input patient histories and reports into HIPAA-compliant AI for diagnostic assistance in complex or undiagnosed cases. This can help identify missed diagnoses and augment physician acumen.
3. Patients: Access Your Health Data
Patients should proactively access their health data (e.g., via Apple Health or patient portals) and, with consent, use HIPAA-compliant AI to analyze it. This empowers individuals to gain personal health insights and potentially aid in diagnosis.
4. Augment Mid-Level Providers with AI
Healthcare systems should augment nurse practitioners and physician assistants with AI tools to perform at the level of entry-level doctors, especially in primary care and underserved specialties. This strategy can help address critical shortages in medical expertise and access.
5. Apply AI to Medical Imaging
Utilize AI, particularly multi-modal transformer architectures, to interpret complex visual medical data (e.g., CT scans, MRIs, echocardiograms) combined with clinical text. This provides expert-level analysis, improving diagnostic accuracy and efficiency in visual-based specialties like radiology.
6. Predict Disease Early with AI
Invest in and use AI models that combine diverse data (retinal images, gait, speech patterns, eye movements) for early prediction of diseases like Alzheimer’s, potentially decades in advance. This enables interventions at stages where reversal or significant halting of progression might be possible.
7. Build New AI-Driven Health Businesses
Entrepreneurs should create alternative healthcare businesses by leveraging patients’ legal right to access their data, using AI to clean and analyze it. This can disrupt traditional hospital models and offer new, data-driven insights and care delivery methods.
8. Stay Vigilant with AI Assistance
When AI augments medical decision-making or procedures, doctors must actively maintain vigilance and avoid over-relying on AI suggestions. Continuous critical assessment is essential to prevent errors and maintain clinical judgment.
Individuals should experiment with AI tools for creative expression in areas like music generation, picture generation, and filmmaking, regardless of prior skill level. This can significantly expand personal creativity and human expression.
10. Focus on AI’s Practical Output
When evaluating AI, prioritize its actual output and capabilities rather than engaging in philosophical debates about its ‘intelligence’ or ‘self-awareness.’ This pragmatic approach helps in assessing its utility and impact.
11. Beware AI’s Social Harms
Recognize that AI can magnify social network problems, such as spreading misinformation and creating convincing bots, making it harder to distinguish reality from AI-generated content. Exercise critical thinking and verify information from online sources.
12. Archive Personal Data with AI
Consider using personal AI tools (e.g., Rewind.ai) that record screen activity and audio to create a searchable, compressed archive of one’s digital and verbal interactions. This can serve as a personal memory aid and provide context for past statements.